Granular-bed filter.



N0. 653,759. Patented .lllly I7, |900.

n. T. WEAVER. GHANULAB BED FILTER.

. (Application ld. MBP- 91 1.900) (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet l,

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No. 653,759. Patented July I7, |900.

E. T. WEAVER.

GRANULAB BED FILTER.

(Application filed Mm'. 9, 1900.)

(No Model.) 5 Sheet's-Sjleet 2 W/TNESSES /N VEN 7'0r? A 'TOHNEY No. 653,759'. Patented July I7, |900.

n. wEAvwEn.- y GRANULAR BED FILTER.

' (Application med Mar. 9, 1900.) Y .(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 @MM/M /N VEN TOR W/ TNE SSE S No. 653,759. Paten-ted my I7, |900.

B. T. WEAVER.

GRANULAR BED FILTER.

(Application led Mar. 9, 1900.)v (No Model.) I 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

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imm/fo@ 4% No. 653,759. Patented July I7,` |90. R. T. WEAVER.

GRANULAR BED FILTER.

(Application led Mar. 9, 1900.\

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(No Model.)

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l UNITED STATES ROBERT T. VEAVER,

OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

GRANULAR-BED FILTER.

SPECIFICATION forming 'part 0f Letters Patent N O. 653,7 59, dated July 17, 1900.

Application illedMarCh 9, 1900. Serial No. 8,064. (No model.)

to required for towns and cities the filtering device now in use usually consists of several horizontal beds made up of quartz' gravel, sands, dac., in layers. Thewater to be filtered is distributed over these beds, through Which it per- I5 colates and is collected as iiltered Water by appropriate devices arranged underneath the beds. This method of Water purification is open tothree veryserious disadvantages. The area of land required for the installation of zo such a plant is considerable, a plant of the capacity of forty-one millions of gallons in twenty-fou r hours requiring about eight acres ofland,while any increasein capacityrequires a proportionate increase in area. Again, the

z5 housing in of an area so extensive where the severity of the climate in Winter renders protection against freezing necessary is a very serious item of initial expense and expense of maintenance. Furthermore,l the cleaning 3o of the filter-beds, Which is frequently necessary, requires the Withdrawal from use of' the beds to be cleaned for quite a time, to say nothing of the labor and expense of turning over, Washing, and replacing the filtering ma- My invention is designed to meet and overcome these objections.

It consists, generally speaking, of' a filterin g-basin not unlike a lock of a canal through which the Water iows in process of filtering.

4o At intervals in this basin and in planes at right angles to its length are placed the filters in series, each filter being filled with material of uniform character, the coarser in the filter near the inlet and the finer nearer the dis- 4 5 charge.

5o very near its surface-that is, that a stratum of sand, for example, of a few inches is practically as efficient a filter as one of almost as many feet in thickness. If this be true, itis yobvious that the ordinary practice of making up afilter-bed of various strata of various finenesses of filtering material superimposed one upon the other is faulty,- since the impurities strained from the Water are collected at the surface of each change of material. Consequently these impurities are largely imprisoned within the body of the filter-bed, making proper cleansing so laborious and diflicult as to be practically almost im possible. Thus the filtering capacity of the filter-bed soon diminishes considerably and is never restored to its pristine efficiency until it is entirely made over. practical Way is one of the main objects of my invent-ion.

In the drawings forming part of this speci'- fication, Figure l represents a plan View of a filter plant of tivo batteries ofA filters constructed according to my system. Fig. 2 rep'- resents an elevation, partly in section, of my Washing device. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal vien1 and crosssection of a detail in construction of my filtersvia the stayfbolts Aconnecting the Walls of said filters. Fig. at represents a sectional View of one of my ltering devices. Fig. 5 represents a crosssectional view of my filtering-basin, showing one of my filters in position and by dotted lines another hoisted up and ready for re'- moval to the Washing-house or a clean lter in position to be substituted for a duplicate lter which has been removed to be cleaned. Fig. 6 represents a fragmentary sectional elevation of one of the lters, showing the details of its movable cover and cam-levers hereinafter referred to. Fig. 7 represents a top view projected from Fig. G.

A represents the lilter-basin, which may be of timber or other suitable material incased in masonry, if so desired.

B and B' represent two-leaved hinged gates, meeting in their middle, one pair, B, at the intake of the unfiltered Water and one pair, B', at the outlet of the filtered Water. The arrows in Fig. l show the direction of the flow.

O C C represent the filters. These are are ranged in series in the lter-basin in the form of porous walls, with intervals between them, as shown in Fig.V 1. These iilters are To utilize this discovery in a ICO .shown at D, Figs. 4, 5, and 6.

each made up of two frames dividedup into compartments, very` much like a windowsash, as shown in Fig. 5. These frames are spaced about eighteen inches apart and par-- allel with one another, as shownfin Fig. 4, and are held together by proper sides"and bottoms and the stay-boltsX, as is also shown in that figure. Each of these stay-bolts comprises an ordinary metal rod a., provided with nuts and washers b, passing from side to side through both frames; but between the frames each rod is covered with the sleeve s, (shown by itself in Fig. 3,) which serves not only to keep the frames the proper distance apart, but also t0 break up the filtering material in the process of washing, for which purpose the several sleeves s are provided with the ns f. (Best shown in the cross-sectional view in Fig. 3.)

`The compartments in the filter-frames are covered by properly-supported screens, as

Thus my completed filter-frames in a general way resemble two similar window-frames so united as to be spaced about eighteen inches apart and provided with screens instead of panes of glass. The space between the said frames is filled with the filtering material, over which -is placed a movable covei1 T, and this cover is forced down by the cam-levers E, Figs. 5, 6, and 7, or any similar device for applying pressure to make and keep the filtering material as compact as possible. The details ofthe cover T and one of the cam-levers E of a filter C are .represented in Figs. 6 and 7. The cover is preferably made in sections,one to each lever, and guided by ways c, attached internally to the sides of the filter. A stirrup t on each section of the cover receives the cam e of the coacting lever. Ratchet-wheels and dogs e c and c2 c2 serve, respectively, to progressively secure the lever E in its respective functions as it presses the cover T down upon the granular filtering material and as it elevates the cover to loosen the material, the ratchetwheels e and e2 being conveniently fast on the respective extremities of the pivot e3 of the lever andthe dogs c and c2 pivoted to bearings for said pivot fast on the upper edges of the filter sides, as best shown in Fig. 7, and the handle e4 of the lever is removable from a socket e5, Fig. 7, as represented in this figure.

The filters C C C are set into the filteringbasin in vertical grooves g, as shown in Fig. l, the joints being made water-tight by packing or in any other suitable manner, so that no water can pass from one filter to another except through the preceding lter of the series. They are spaced at intervals, as shown, each filter containing filtering material substantially of the same character and fineness throughout. As to the number of filters, I -prefer a battery of six filters in each basin, as shown in Fig. 1, arranged as follows: Calling the filter nearest the intake (indicated by the arrows in Fig. l) of the unfiltered water No. land numbering them consecutively to the other end of the basin, filter No. 1 contains the coarsest, N o. 2 the intermediate, and No. 3 the finest, filtering material. Upon these three filters I mainly rely for straining the water. Filters Nos. 4, 5, and 6 I usually fill with animal charcoal, the finest in No. 4, the intermediate in No. 5, and the coarsest in No.' (i, and on these three filters I rely for purifying the water in addition to their straining effect and that of' the prior filters. A battery of my filters soconstructed twenty-five feet long nine feet wide and eleven feet deep, with an eleven-inch head of water, will filter about forty-one million gallons of water of the average character in twenty-four hours, and thus equals in capacity a plant of horizontal filtering-beds covering approximately eight acres of ground. The plant of two batteries, as shown in Fig. 1, has of course double that capacity, and it is apparent how greatly the capacity of the plant may be increased by increasing the number of the batteries and how little, comparatively, the superficial area of the plant is increased thereby. The great saving of expense in housing my system over that employing the horizontal filter-beds'in ordinary use is also obvious.

As is well known to all skilled in this art, the character of' the filtering material it is best to use depends upon the character of the water to be filtered, the object being to do the work at the least expense in plant, dsc., consistent with efficiency. The number-of filters to the battery and the character of the filtering material used may be varied widely, according to cir- IOO cumstances or the views of the contracting y IOSV ters, as shown, filling No. l filter with crushed Y slag in particles about the size of a pea, No. 2 filter with flint crushed to about the size of granulated sugar, No. 3 filter with fine silicious sand, and the other filters, Nos. 4, 5, and 6, with animal charcoal, as already set forth. F F, Figs. l and 5, represent drain-pipes set in the floor of the filtering-basin, so that by closing the influent-gates B and the efiiuent-gates B the filter-basin may be drained and the filteringsurfaces be scoured and washed in position if that method of cleaning be desired.

G G, Fig. l, represent pipes and valves for draining the filter-basin from leakage from the eiiiuent-gates B when it is desired to empty the filtering-basin. H, Figs. l, 2, and 8, is a flood-gate, and H is a sluiceway leading therefrom for cleansing the filters after removal from the filter-basin. I, Figs. l and 5, is an overhead trolley with chain-block to remove the filters from the filter-basin, transport them to the washinghouse, and replace them after cleaning.

N N, Figs. l and 2, are hand-wheels -for openin g and closing the washing flood-gate H. M, Figs. 1, 2, and 8, is a cradle upon which IIO to place and rock or shake a filter for agitating its contents while washing.

O, Fig. 8, is a hand-crank, P a sprocket- Wheel turned back and forth at will by said hand-crank, and Q a chain transmitting motion from said crank and sprocket-wheel to the cradle M.

R R, Figi, representintakes for the filteredwater pumps.

My system operates as follows: The inletgates B and the outlet-gates B are opened. The unfiltered water enters as indicated by the arrows, (see Fig. 1,) encounters filter No. l, which intercepts such suspended matter as it is competent to deal with, passes through it to filter No. 2, which acts ina similar manner, and so on through the series of filters and passes out through the outlet-gates B as filtered water.

Vhen one or more ot the filters require cleaning, the gates B and B may be closed, thefilter-basin drained through the drainagepipes F and G, and the filters scrubbed and washed in position. This will answer where initial cheapness ofconstructionisimportant; but it has the disadvantage of withdrawing the entire battery from use for a considerable time and of being dependent on manual labor and the skill and thoroughness of the laborer. My system avoids these disadvantages to a great extent.

Vhen a filter it to be cleaned, it is hoisted out of the lter-basin, as shown in Fig. 5, and run on an overhead trolley or otherwise to the washing-house. A duplicate clean filter is at once substituted in the filter -basin, which thereupon is again ready for use. Such cleaning is done more or less frequently as the working of the battery may indicate.

When the filter to be cleaned reaches the washing-house, the levers E, Figs. 5, 6, and 7, are thrown over, so as to release the pressure of the cams e on the cover T, which retains the filtering material in the filter, and allow the cover to have a few inches loose play, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6. The filter is then placed upon the cradle M, Figs. 2 and 8, Where it is rocked or shaken while subjected to a strong stream of water. The loosening and play of the cover of the filtering material permit that material to be agitated by the movement of the filter with the cradle M. The finned sleeve .s of each of the stay-bolts X, Figs. 3 and 4, breaks up any coherence of the filtering material, and thus and by the attrition of its particles one against the other the filtering material is thoroughly scoured, so that its impurities may be and are washed away. A few minutes treatment of this kind is sufficient, when the water is shut off and the cleaned filter is run back into the filter-house ready for use when required.

The filter-holding grooves g in the sides of the basins may be inclined if preferred, and the term vertical as herein used is intended to include any position substantially vertical.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to patent, is-

l. A filter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered water separated by a filtering-basin, similar to a canal-lock, having inlet and outlet gates at its respective ends, and filters arranged in series within such basin.

2. A filter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered Water separated by a filtering-basin, similar t0 a canal-lock, having inlet and outlet gates, filters in the form of porous walls arranged at intervals and at right angles to its length within such basin, and means for draining said basin.

3. A filter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered water separated by afiltering-basin, similar to a canal-lock, having inlet and outlet gates, and vertically-removable filters in the form of porous walls arranged in series within'such basin.

fi. A filter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered water separated by a filtering-basin, similar to a canal-lock, having inlet and outlet gates, filters held by their lateral edges in vertical grooves within such basin, and overhead devices for raising and lowering and conveying such filters.

5. A filter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for ltered water separated by a filtering-basin, similar to a canal-lock, having inlet and outlet gates, and thin granularbed filters, each of a single stratum, arranged in series within such basin, and removable therefrom.

6. A filter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered water separated by a filtering-basin, thin granular-bed filters Within said basin provided with means for tightening and loosening the inclosed filtering material, overhead devices for raising and lowering and conveying such filters, and a washing-cradle upon which the filters may be placed by said overhead devices. v

7. A filter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered water separated by a filtering-basin,removable granular-bed filters arranged in series within such basin and provided with means for breaking up the filtering material when the lter is rocked or shaken, and a washing-cradle adapted to receive the removed filters and to rock or shake the same. Y

8. A filter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered water separated by a filtering-basin, removable lters arranged in series within such basin, a sluiceway leading from said reservoir for washing the filters,

and means for transferring the lters fromv basin to sluice.

9. A filter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered water separated by a ltering-basin, removable lters arranged in series within such basin,a sluiceway provided with a washing-cradle adapted to receive the removed filters, and means for transferring the filters from basin to cradle.

IOO

IIO

10. A ilter plant comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered water separated by a lltering-basin,romovable granular-bed filters provided with means for loosening the filtering material after the filters are removed from the basin, and a sluioeway for Washing the removed filters.

1l. A filter plant Comprising an intake and a reservoir for filtered Water separated by a lteringbasin,rem ovable gran nlar-bed filters provided with means for loosening the filterin g material after the filters are removed from the basin, and a sluiceway provided with a filter-washing cradle adapted to receive the removed filters and to rook or shake the same.

12. In a lter plant, a granular-bed filter adapted to be rocked or shaken in washing it, and comprising a pair of screen-supporting frames held together by stay-bolts provided With sleeves having fins to break up the filtering material when the filter is in motion.

13. In a lter plant, a granular-bed filter adapted to be rocked or shaken in washing it, and comprising a pair of screen-'supporting frames, means for tightening or loosening the filtering material between said frames, and means for breaking up said filtering material when the filter is in motion.

14. In a filter plant, a granular-bed filter adapted to be rocked or shaken in washing it, and Comprising a pair of screen-supporting frames, a single stratum of filtering material between said frames, and means for tightening and loosening said filtering material comprising a movable cover at one edge, ca :I1-levers actin g upon said cover, and means for looking said levers when the filtering ina.- terial is tightened for the filtering operation, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

Signed at the city of New York,in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 7th day of March, A. D, 1900.

ROBERT T. WEAVER.

Witnesses:

EDWARD C. DAVIDSON, I. L. PERRY. 

